Simple Shortbread for Christmas

Don't know what to get my lovely bosses for Christmas, I decided to bake some cookies to give as a present. It is the thought that counts. I wanted something really simple and easy, shortbread would be great!

Recipe adapted from www.bakingmakesthingsbetter.com

 

Make about 24 Full Sized biscuits or 30 Mini Biscuits

 

Ingredients:

250g Butter
1  Cup Icing Sugar
1 ¼ Cups Corn Flour
1 ¾ Plain Flour
Cachous (optional)

1. Pre-heat oven to 180°C.

2. Cream butter and icing sugar together until light andfluffy.  
3. Sift in corn flour and flour, mix in using a woodenspoon. Combined mixture should be kneaded well in the bowl.
4. Lightly flour a board or clean bench space and roll outmixture to about 0.5cm in thickness.
5. Cut out using a cutter of your choice or cut into pieces.Place on a lined baking tray - at this point you can decorate with little cachous.
6. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until golden but not brown.

Thai Chicken Sauage Roll

 

 

An Asian version of the Kiwi's favorite...simple and easy to make, great for parties... :)

 

Serving: 6 cut portion per pastry sheet.

 

Ingredients:

 

450g Mince Chicken

2 Eggs, beaten

2 Tablespoons Fish Sauce

1/2  Onion, diced

1/2 Carrot, grated

1/4 Cup Coriander (Cilantro), finely chopped

2 Cloves of garlic, finely chopped

1 Tablespoon Corn flour

2 Sheets of frozen puff pastry

Thai sweet chili sauce for dipping

Flour for rolling

Sesame seeds for sprinkling (Optional)

 

1.Thaw the puff pastry and refrigerate until needed.

2. Heat the oven to 175 C (350 F).

3.Line a baking sheet with greased paper.

4.Add the ground chicken, chopped coriander, carrot, eggs (save 1/4 for brushing), fish sauce, corn flour and  garlic. Mix well.

5.Lay glad wrap out on a bench, place mince mixture along and roll into a tight cylindrical shape (about the length of a pastry sheet and thickness about 3.5cm), then chill. 

 

 

6.Flour bench and lay puff pastry out. Remove the mince from the fridge, unwrap and place on the pastry. Brush the pastry with beaten egg then roll the pastry over and stick sides together.  Lift the whole thing up and turn it over so that the sealed edge is underneath.   

 

        
7. Rest for 10 minutes (Resting will help to prevent shrinkage) and then brush the outside with egg wash and then sprinkle on sesame seeds. Put them (apart) on a baking tray lined with baking paper.

 

 

8. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until the pastry is puffed and golden brown .

9.Serve with Thai sweet chilli sauce.

Simple Chocolate Cake

Another simple recipe using some basic ingredients, I am a simple person and I don't think I am capable of attempting too complicated recipe. :)

Recipe adapted from allrecipes.com

Makes 2 x 9 Inch Round Cake Layers

Ingredients:

1 ¾ Cup Plain Flour

2 Cup Caster Sugar (can easily reduce to 1 3/4 Cup)

3/4 Cup Unsweeten Cocoa Powder

1½ Teaspoon Baking Powder

1½ Teapsoon  Baking Soda

2 Eggs

1 Cup Milk

½ Cup Vegetable Oil

2 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract

1 Cup Boiling Water

 

1. Preheat oven to 175C (350F). Grease and flour two nine inch round pans.

2. In a large bowl, stir together the sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add the eggs, milk, oil and vanilla, mix for 2 minutes on medium speed of mixer.

3. Stir in the boiling water last. Batter will be thin. Pour evenly into the prepared pans.

4. Bake 30 to 35 minutes in the preheated oven, until the cake tests done with a skewer. Cool in the pans for 10 minutes, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely. The cake tastes nicer when it is chilled (in my opinion)

Gula Melaka Kuih Bangkit

There was  some Gula Melaka (Palm Sugar) leftover in my pantry after making Gula Melaka (Palm Sugar) Cupcake , it is an eyesore seeing it in my pantry; it might be a good idea to get rid of it by using it in some baking recipe. Internet is the best place to get recipe, found a recipe that used Gula Melaka and it was quite a similar recipe that I have that I attempted before - Kuih Bangkit (That recipe is just a normal popluar recipe) and the only difference is one called for the use of sugar and the other uses Gula Melaka (palm sugar). I have the recipe adapted from pengskitchen . 

 

Ingredients:
90g Gula Melaka, chopped for easier melting
100ml Thick coconut milk + extra for kneading
30g Butter, soften
1 Egg Yolk

250g Tapioca Flour, weight after frying*

* Dry fry tapicoca flour on low heat for 20mins with some pandan leaves and light and fluffy. Cool completely before storing. Rest the flour for at least 3 days before using.

1. Melt gula melaka with coconut milk over low heat until sugar is dissolved. Strain mixture.

2. Place butter and egg yolk in a mixing bowl and mix lightly till combined.

3. Sift in tapioca flour and mix lightly using a wooden spoon. Add in gula melaka mixture and mixed till combine. Add in more coconut milk and knead till a dough form. Mixture should not be crumbly.

4. Wrap dough in a clingwrap and rest for at least 30mins or longer.(The recipe called for the dough to rest, however I realised that after resting the dough it dried up and I have to put in more coconut milk to knead it so that I can roll put the dough)-I suggested this step to be skipped totally.

5. Remove dough from wrap and knead lightly again. Lightly flour a rolling surface and roll dough into a 1/2 cm thick. Stamp out cookie using a cookie cutter.

6. Lighty sprinkle some tapioca flour onto baking sheet and place cut out cookie over.

7. Bake in preheated oven at 160C for 20-25mins or until it turned slightly brown.

Simple Chocolate Soufflé

It has been more than  a year ago since  I last baked  souffles. My last attempt I adapted  Masterchef New Zealand Nadia's recipe; as it was my 1st attempt my souffles collapsed once they were out of the oven so the photo I posted was not that nice looking... because of that I have  not yet attempt it again since then. However, Amazing Race Australia TV program telecasted contestants making souffles in Paris. It stirred up my interest again. Wanted to attempt it again, at the same time wanted to search for a simpler and easier recipe. Managed to find one which I think it is easy. The end product turned out to be good.

Recipe adapted from www.realsimple.com

Serving: 4
Ingredients:
3 Tablespoons (41g) Butter

2 Tablespoons Unsweetened Cocoa

85g Semisweet or Bittersweet Chocolate
1/2 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract

2 Egg Yolks

2 Egg Whites
2 Tablespoons Sugar
A pinch salt

A pinch cream of tartar

1.Heat oven to 190C (375F). Use 1 tablespoon of the butter to grease 4 ramekins. Coat the ramekins with the cocoa, tapping out the excess.

2.In a large bowl, over a pan of simmering water, melt the chocolate and remaining butter. Stir occasionally until smooth. Remove from heat and add the vanilla.

3.Whisk in the yolks one at a time until smooth. Set aside.

4.In a clean bowl, beat the egg whites with the sugar, salt, and cream of tartar until stiff (but not dry) peaks form. Gently fold the egg-white mixture into the chocolate mix.

5. Spoon into the ramekins until 3/4 full as the souffles will rise 1-2cm. (According to the website : The recipe can be made to this point up to 1 day ahead. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate.)

6. Bake until puffed and set, about 11minutes. (If baked directly from the refrigerator, add 5 to 10 minutes.)

Red Beans Bread (Anpan Bread)

Red beans bread (Anpan Bread) is one of the basic bread which you can find in Singapore's bakeries. I used to buy this bread as my son's breakfast. I don't see it available in New Zealand. Whenever I miss home, I will start to crave for certain food strangely some of the food I craved for were something that I don't usually eat it nor they were my favourite. Guess it is just the sight or the taste of these food bring comfort to me. Since I can't get red bean bread in local bakeries, I need to bake it myself. Recipe was adapted from mamaloli.com and my 1st attempt was a failure; the dough did not rise at all (see the photo on the left,  top picture pale and not puffy at all)

Knowing that the recipe I have adapted was a good recipe and decided to give it a try again. Last attempt the dough did not rise; I knew where the issue was. The yeast was not activated, based on my experience of baking (I am not saying that I am a great baker). On my 2nd attempt, I decided to tweak the step/ingredients alittle. 

2nd attempt was a great success which I was very happy about it! :)

Makes 7 to 8 Breads

Ingredients:
200g All-Purpose Flour (or bread flour)
4 Tablespoons Sugar
1/8 Teaspoon Salt
1 Teaspoon Active Instant Yeast

1 Egg (lightly beaten)

80ml Warm Water 

2 Tablespoon Milk Powder (optional)
1 Tablespoon Oil

Filling 
250g Red Bean paste
White Sesame Seeds (optional)

1. Sprinkle in one teaspoon of active instant yeast into the WARM water. Do not stir the yeast. After five minutes the yeast should start to bloom, blossom, grow, foam, froth and bubble.

2. Mix the flour, sugar, salt and milk powder (optional) in a separate bowl. Mix well.

3. Add in the yeast mixture, oil and the lightly beaten egg into the flour mixture to form a messy dough. Now knead for 5 to 8 minutes using a Stand Mixer or Hand Mixer with dough hooks or you can put the dough into the bread maker machine, set on “Dough” mode for 5-8mins. Alternatively, you can also knead by hand (it will take a long time), knead until the dough is smooth and elastic, move to a clean oiled bowl. Cover and let the dough rise in a warm place for about an hour (until doubled in size).

4. Split the dough to 7 to 8 pieces (about 50g each). Roll each into a smooth ball. Cover and let it rise for 10 to 15 minutes.

5. Roll the red bean paste into a ball (about a tablespoon in size). Now take the dough and flatten it (not too much). Add the red bean paste and wrap the dough around it and seal.

6. *This part is optional- Flatten once more.. You can use your thumb to make an indention in the center. then use sharp scissors and make 5 deep cuts around the dough .Sprinkle some seasame seeds onto the indention (optional). Continue with the rest of the dough.

7. Preheat oven to 190C (375F).Now cover and let the buns rise another 30 minutes. You can brush the dough with an egg wash before putting it into the oven to bake. However, I do do not want to waste another egg for this, so I brush it with olive after it is done.

8. Bake for 15 minutes. Brush a little bit of olive oil on the bread after it’s done.

Gula Melaka (Palm Sugar) Cupcake

Recipe adapted from nyonyapendekmelaka.blogspot.co.nz 

Ingredients:
Mixture A
200g Gula Melaka (or brown sugar as substitute)
120g Water

Mixture B
4 Eggs
100g White Granulated Sugar
1/2 Teapsoon Salt

Mixture C
150g Corn Oil
150g Coconut Milk

Mixture D

400g Flour

1 Teaspoon Baking Soda 
4 Teaspoons Double Action Baking Powder
(You can substiute- for 4 Teaspoons of Double Action Baking Powder = 1 Teaspoon Baking Soda,  2Teaspoons of Cream of Tartar and 1 Teaspoon Corn Flour/Starch)

Optional: Dessicated Coconut

1. Cook mixture A until sugar is dissolved, set aside to cool.2. Whip mixture B until sugar dissolves and mixture slightly thickens. Add in mixture A and mixture C, mix until well-blended.

3. Fold in sieved mixture D, mix until well combined.

4. Fill cupcake liners placed in muffin pan till about 3/4 full.

5. Steam for 30 minutes or until cake is done. OR my steamer is not big enough to steam all the cupcakes and I was too lazy to do it in 2 batches, I decided to bake them in the oven using a waterbath. Bake the cupcake in a water bath to keep the oven moisture high and the heat gentle. A water bath is using a larger pan containing HOT water in which to place the smaller muffin tray containing the cupcake.

7. *If using waterbath method-Pre-heat oven to 180C, put muffin pan on another bigger tray containing HOT water. Bake in the oven for 30-40mins or until a skewer inserted into the centre came cout clean. This method will give you a crispy top and moist cake underneath.

6.Serve it with dessicated coconut(optional) as they pair well together.

Pandan Coconut Pound Cake

Recipe was adapted from www.food.com, I modified it Pandan Paste flavouring (as Pandan and coconut are good combination as they compliment one another) and omit the shredded coconut and coconut glaze.

Ingredients:

4 Eggs

2 Cups All-Purpose Flour

3/4 Cup Butter, softened

3/4 Cup Coconut milk/Coconut Cream

1 1/4 Cups Sugar (Original receipe called for 1 3/4Cup Sugar but I reduced it)

1 Teaspoon Pandan Paste

3/4 Teaspoon Baking Powder
1/4 Teaspoon Salt

1. Preheat oven at 160C.
2. Grease and flour 1 loaf pan, set aside.
3. In a mixing bowl, mix softened butter and sugar together until fluffy.
4. In a seperate small bowl, mix together flour, salt, baking powder, and shredded coconut.
5. Add eggs, one at a time into butter/sugar mixture. Mix well.

6. Add vanilla, then add coconut milk, alternating with flour/coconut mixture (this will prevent lumps).

7. Pour batter into loaf pan and bake for 60-85min or until a skewer inserted into the middle and it comes out clean.

Salmon, Ham and Cheese Quiche

Both recipes were adapted from www.food.com however with some modification.

Quiche Filling Ingredients:

105g Canned Pink Salmon or more, drained off the liquid

50g Ham, finely chopped
3 Eggs, beaten
1 Cup Sour Cream
1/2 Cup Stock

1/4 Cup Mayonnaise

1/2 Cup Shredded Cheese, divided
1/2 Onion, finely chopped
Pinch of Pepper and Salt

Crust Ingredients:

1 Cup Flour

1/2 Teaspoon Salt

1/4 Cup Olive oil

1/4 Cup Ice Water

 

Crust

1.Mix flour and salt with fork.

2.Beat oil and water with whisk or fork to thicken.

3.Pour into flour and mix with fork.

4.Press into 10" quiche pan.

5.Fill with quiche mixture and bake at 200C until done.

Quiche
1.Preheat the oven to 200C.

2.Prepare a quiche with oil or baking spray.

3.Drain the salmon, flake the salmon and remove any skin or bones

4.Mix the eggs, sour cream, mayonnaise, and stock in a large bowl

7.Stir in the salmon, pepper, salt, 1/4 cup cheese, onion and ham.

8.Pour into the prepared quiche pan.

9.Sprinkle with the remaining 1/4 cup cheese.

10.Bake for 40 minutes or until the quiche is firm in center.

Pandan Cream Custard Tarts

Pastry Shell

1 Cup Plain Flour
100g Butter, chilled, chopped
1/4  Cup Caster sugar
1-2 Tablespoons Chilled Water

Custard

1/3 Cup White Sugar

2 Tablespoons Corn Flour

1 Tablespoon Plain Flour
1 1/4 Cup Milk
2 Eggs Yolk, beaten
1/2 Teaspoon Pandan extract or Vanilla extract
1 Pinch salt

Custard Filling for tarts

1.In a small saucepan, combine sugar,corn flour, plain flour and a pinch of salt. Stir in milk, a little at a time, until smooth. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly.

2.Boil 60 seconds, then pour a small amount of hot liquid into the 2 egg yolks, and stir. Then return now heated egg yolks to saucepan and stir, over heat, until mixture starts to bubble again. Remove from heat, add pandan/vanilla extract. Cover and chill in refrigerator until ready for use.

Pastry for the Tarts Shell

1.Combine flour, butter and sugar in a food processor. Process until mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add yolk and chilled water. Process until dough just comes together.

2.Turn pastry onto a lightly floured surface. Knead until just smooth. Shape into a disc. Wrap in cling film  and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
3. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface to a 3mm-thick disc. Line an 3cm deep, 8cm round (base measurement) fluted tart tin, with removable base, with the pastry. Trim any excess. Repeat with remaining pastry. Place in the fridge for 15 minutes to rest. Do not throw away any excess pastry. Roll them and cut them with cookie cutter. Bake them at 180C until golden brown. 
4. Preheat oven at 180C. 
5. Cover tarts shell bases with baking paper and fill with pastry weights or rice. Place on a baking tray and bake in oven for 10 minutes at 180C. Remove the paper and pastry weights or rice and bake a further 10 minutes or until golden. Set aside to cool slightly.

5.Fill each baked tart shells with cream filling using a piping bag (or a ziplock bag).

Orange Loaf/Cake

This baking idea came after watching My Kitchen Rules where Steve and Helen had a cook off with Kiwi pair-Simon and Meg. In their 3rd dish-Dessert, they whipped up a delicious Orange Cake Trifle with citrus syrup and vanilla custard which wow the judges as well as me. I told Tony aftter the show that I will bake a Orange cake the following day. He was happy as their dish had a few components, being a lazy person I will just be contented making a Orange Cake than making a complex one like which Steve and Helen made. 

Recipe was adapted from allrecipes.com however I did not prepare the Glazing.

Serving: 1 Loaf

Ingredients:
1/2 Cup Butter/Margarine

1 Cup White Sugar (You can reduce it to 3/4 Cup)

2 Eggs
1 Tablespoon Grated Orange Zest

1/2 Cup Fresh Orange Juice

2 Cups All-Purpose Flour
2 Teaspoons Baking Powder
1/2 Teaspoon Salt

1/2 Cup Chopped Walnuts (optional)

Glazing

1/2 Cup Orange Juice

1/4 Cup White Sugar

1. Stir together flour, baking powder, salt, and nuts.

2. In a large bowl, beat together butter or margarine and 1 cup sugar. Beat in eggs one at a time.

3. Stir in rind and 1/2 cup juice. Pour in flour mixture, and stir until moistened. Turn into a greased 9 x 5 x 3 inch loaf pan.

4. Bake at 175 C (350 F) for 1 hour, or until done. Remove loaf from oven, but not from pan.

5. Combine 1/2 cup orange juice with 1/4 cup sugar in a small saucepan. Heat and stir to dissolve sugar. Spoon glaze over hot loaf. Let stand in pan for 10 minutes before removing loaf to rack to cool.

Custard Cream Puffs

Just came back from a holiday in Hawai'i, feeling recharged and back to daily cooking routine as well as baking. I enjoy baking more than cooking. However, baking will make you put on weight with all the sugar and butter as ingredients. Sometimes the temptation is irresistible!  

Recipe adapted from happyhomemaker88.com

Ingredients for Pastry:
250ml (1 Cup) water
150 gram (1/2 Cup) Butter or Margarine
125 gram (1 Cup) All Purpose Flour (I used Bread flour instead as recommended by readers from happyhomemaker88.com)
4 Large Eggs
1/2 Teaspoon Salt (reduce or omit if using salted Butter or Margarine)

Ingredients for Custard Filling:
3 Large Egg Yolks
200 gram Sugar (slightly less than 1 cup)( - or adjust the amount to your preference )
750ml milk (3 Cups)
20 gram Flour (1 1/2 Tablespoons)
20 gram Cornstarch (1 1/2 Tablespoons)
1/2 Teaspoon Vanilla

To make pastry:1. Pre-heat oven to 200C or 400F.
2. Heat water, salt and butter to a rolling boil; reduce heat. Tip in the flour and stir vigorously over low heat until mixture forms into a ball, about 1 minute.
3. Remove from heat. Add in the eggs, one at a time, while beating until dough mixture is smooth.
4. Use rounded teaspoonfuls (or tablespoonfuls, depending on the size you like) or a piping bag to make mounds of dough set about 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.
5. Bake puffs until they are puffed and golden brown, 20 to 30 minutes. Cool.

6. Slit each puff halfway and put in the custard filling (recipe below).

To make custard filling:

1. Beat yolk and sugar until white. Pour in milk bit by bit while mixing until sugar is melted.

2. Put in flour, cornstarch, vanilla and mix until smooth.

3. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until mixture boils and is thick.  (Initially I was worried that the custard was not thick enough to pipe into the puffs, the custard will be thickened as it cools down.)

4. Cool the custard. Put custard into a piping bag (if you don't have one, you can use a ziplock bag as a piping bag) and pipe it into the puffs at the slit end. 
5. The custard puffs are best eaten when chilled.. :)

Cheddar Cheese Puffs

On Friday, I am usually home early from work. Having nothing to do, I switched on the TV and by chance I saw a cooking show, while this laady was making Cheese Puffs. It was easy. After the show, I went onto internet to look for the recipe. Reading through the recipe, it was really simple and with simple ingredients. I baked it on the weekend since I got nothing much to do. It was to be delicious though a lot improvement needed on my piping skill to recreate a nicer shape for the puff...

Recipe was adapted from Simply Recipes.com. However, I have omitted Tyme and pepper on purpose.

Make about 24-30 puffs.

Ingredients:

1 Stick Butter (113g)

1 Cup water

½ Teaspoon Salt

1 Cup All Purpose Flour

4 Large Eggs

1 Cup Grated Sharp Cheddar Cheese

1.Preheat oven to 218C (425°F).  In a medium sized saucepan, add the water, butter, and salt, and bring to a boil over high heat.

  

2. Reduce the heat to medium and add the flour all at once. Stir rapidly. The mixture will form a dough ball that will pull away from the sides of the pan. It helps to use a wooden spoon to stir as the dough will be rather thick. Continue to cook for 2 minutes.

3. Remove the pan from the heat and let cool for a couple of minutes. Stir so that the dough cools more evenly. You want the dough to be warm, just not so hot that when you start adding eggs they cook as they hit the dough. Add the eggs one at a time, stirring after each addition until the eggs are incorporated into the dough. (Do this part in a mixer if you want, or by hand with a wooden spoon.) The dough should become rather creamy.

4. Stir in the grated cheese.

5. Spoon out small balls (about a heaping tablespoon) of the dough onto a parchment lined baking sheet, with at least an inch separating the spoonfuls. Or  you can transfer the mixture to a ziplock  bag and cut half an inch off of one corner to create a pastry bag.  squeeze the mixture into small rounds  onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Place in oven and cook for 10 minutes at 218C (425°F).  Lower heat to 176 C(350°F) and cook for another 15-20 minutes, until puffed up and lightly golden.

Sugi Biscuits ( Snow Balls/Ghee Biscuits)

I have bought a tub of Ghee from Indian Spice store, wanting to make Roti Cani/Roti Prata I have attempted 4 times but did not succeed. As it was a big tub and so far I have no luck with the Roti; I have yet to give up hope and will still keep trying; decided to look for some recipe that uses Ghee else I am not sure if I will ever use Ghee other than the recipe for Roti. Found a Sugi Biscuits Recipe which reminded me of an airport colleague-Malliga who will alway made these biscuits during Haya Raya and will gave me a bottle of the biscuits to bring home. It was so sweet of her. I love these biscuits.

Ingredients:
2  1/4 Cup Plain Flour (or slightly more)
1/2 Cup Cornflour

1/2 Cup Castor Sugar

3/4 Cup Ghee

2 Tablespoons Milk Powder
A pinch of salt (optional)

Icing Sugar for dusting

1. Melt ghee over a low heat or in a microwave for 1min. Set aside to cool

2. Mix the milk powder, cornflour, salt, sugar and flour together.

3. Pour in the melted ghee mixture into the dry ingredients and blend well. Knead the mixture until a dought is formed. The dough should be soft and should not stick to your hands. If it is too sticky, add a little bit more flour.

3. Form little balls with the dough and place on baking tray. Bake at a pre heated oven at 170 degree celsius for about 20 minutes or when they're done.

4. Let cool and then dust the cookies with icing sugar or roll the cookies to coat with icing sugar. Keep in airtight container. I do not have icing sugar so I used caster sugar instead.

Steamed Red Bean Buns豆沙包

Using Plain Flour

Using Low Gluten Flour

Steamed Red Bean Bun (Tau Sar Bao) is something that I used to buy it for my son to have it as breakfast before he goes to school. Other than those times, I would not really buy steamed red paste bun for meals. It is easily available all day in coffeshops/foodcourts back in Singapore. Since there is so much selection of food choices in Singapore back then so this red bean bun has never in my "must eat list" or in my "craving list". Things changed, I started to crave for a lot food that I eat occasionally/or don't even have it when I had the chance in Singapore. Things changed since I came over as I started to crave these food maybe they are just comfort food to ease my home sick.  I went online to search for recipe. I have made this Steamed Red Paste Buns for 3rd time but each time using different type of flour, I realised that the type of flour affected the texture of how the buns turned out. 

The recipe called for Hong Kong Flour which I can't find it here in Auckland after trying to search in vain. So  1st attempt I used "Vietnamese Pau Flour", however the texture of the buns turned out to be coarse not as light as fluffy I would like it to be. Not very happy with that, I went on internet to read some articles on flours and realised that the protein, gluten, added agents and differences in processing all contribute to deciding which flour is needed to achieve success in the baking. All these while, I had this belief that High Grade Flour meant High Quality Flour and would use this flour for all my baking, not knowing the real meaning of that. High Grade flour has high protein content and makes a stronger dough and suitable for bread and general baking. Now, I do have a better understanding of type of flour. If you would like to find out more, you are click these 2 links- Understanding of Flour and difference between Baking Flour and Plain Flour.

Out of curosity, on my 2nd attempt I decided to use plain flour (after reading the comments from the recipe source that you can use plain flour too). Final product, as you can see in the photo above(left) the buns were  coarse on the texture. On 3rd attempt, I decided to use Low Gluten Flour instead, finally the final product turned out to be lighter and finer in term of texture. It was just the way I wanted my steamed buns to be just like the buns you get in Singapore (in term texture). If you don't mind the texture, you can use plain flour. The best flour to use for this recipe would definitely be HONG KONG Flour but if you can't find it, I guess the next best flour to use would be low gluten flour.  

Low Gluten Flour

Ingredients for Dough

(Dough recipe was adapted from auntyyochana.blogspot)

300g Hong Kong flour/Low Gluten flour/Fine flour/Cake Flour/All-purpose Flour/Plain flour.

60 g Castor Sugar

2 Teaspoon Instant Yeast

2 Teaspoon **Double-action Baking Powder -See below in Pink for substitute.

35 g Shortening/VegetableOil

120 ml. water

250g Red Bean Paste



Red Bean Paste

( For 2 teaspoon of Double-Action Baking Powder, you can substitute with ½ Teaspoon Baking Soda,1 Teaspoon Cream of Tartar and ½ Teaspoon Cornstarch  if you can't find Double action Baking powder)

**Double-action baking powder releases 1/3 of the carbon dioxide at room temperature and the rest during baking or steaming. This helps the powto be fluffy cos it expands during steaming.

1. Sieve the flour and baking powder into a mixing bowl. Add yeast, caster sugar and mix well (else the bun will have brown spots after steaming)

2. Mix the oil into the water. Make a well in the centre of the flour mixture, add in water and oil mixture in to form a dough. Transfer dough onto a lightly floured work surface. Knead dough until it becomes smooth (about 5-10 mins).

3. Roll dough into a smooth round, place in a lightly greased mixing bowl, cover with cling wrap and let it proof for about 1 hr or until it doubles in bulk.

4. Punch down the dough and give a few light kneading to release the trapped air bubbles. Divide the dough into 12 equal. Roll each portion into a smooth round.

5. Flatten each dough into a small disc a rolling pin, make the edges thinner and the centre portion thicker. Wrap each dough with 20g of red bean paste. Pinch and seal the seams. Place dough seam side down on a square piece of parchment paper. Cover loosely with cling wrap and leave buns to proof for 30 mins.

6.Place buns in a steamer and space them apart. Steam at high heat for 12mins (make sure the water is already boiling before steaming). You can put some vingear into the boiling water, it helps to remove the smell of yeast in buns as well as it helps to whiten the buns. When ready, remove the lid carefully to prevent water from dripping over the buns. Or you put a cloth under the lid when steaming, to absorb the steam water. Remove immediately and serve warm. Keep any leftovers in fridge (covered with cling wrap or store in airtight containers) and re-steam till hot before serving. You can reheat up in the microwave for 2mins, putting a glass of water together with the buns to preventing the buns from drying up.